Makin' Bacon!
- Thread starter pacanis
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Pac,
I saw this and immediately thought of you.
Time to try your hand at baking!
You could probably start out with a ball of dough from the store, we won't tell.
Bacon Yeast Rolls | A Spicy Perspective
OMG! Did you go look at her Lava Bread on the KA site?
Aunt Bea
Master Chef
I have finally hit upon a ratio of salt:sugar:cure and smoke where I can truly say this bacon is meat candy.
I cooked some up last night, semi-fresh off the smoker, and just cooked a few more pieces up while packaging one of the sliced thirds up. Yowza.
Bacon isn't for everybody and tastes vary, but this recipe will not be changed.
I cooked some up last night, semi-fresh off the smoker, and just cooked a few more pieces up while packaging one of the sliced thirds up. Yowza.
Bacon isn't for everybody and tastes vary, but this recipe will not be changed.
Attachments
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Good job finding the right combination so fast.
Looks awesome!!!
It still doesn't stretch like storebought bacon... I'm not sure what's up with that... but it tastes great. It's a keeper.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
If it looks that good 
and it tastes as delicious as you say, I would't worry about the stretch. Besides, they probably do something awful to get it to do that and you wouldn't want to know and lose your taste for bacon, would you?
and it tastes as delicious as you say, I would't worry about the stretch. Besides, they probably do something awful to get it to do that and you wouldn't want to know and lose your taste for bacon, would you?If it looks that good
True, but it means keeping storebought bacon on hand for wrapping foods. The homemade bacon just doesn't want to stretch and stick to itself. As evidenced by my pathetic bacon wrapped asparagus last night. And I could not use one slice to wrap my mushrooms with. Not the usual way anyway.
I wonder if storebought bacon is wet cured... maybe I could try method that next time. Oh well.
Cheryl J
Chef Extraordinaire
Your bacon looks fantastic, pac, and congrats on getting it just the smokiness that you like. It sure does look good.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
You know Pac, you could start your own business right here in DC. Plenty of customers lining up for your product. So get cracking boy. We need bacon! 
You know, there are many reasons I do not breed dogs, even though I would do it correctly and not like these back yard breeders who simply mate dogs and sell the puppies... no health screening, no temperament testing, not even any show or working titles so you know the breeding pairs represent exactly what the breed is supposed to be. Disgusting.
Anyway, the biggest reason I do not breed dogs is because I could never stand to get rid of the puppies. Even though my screening and filters would help assure they were all going to good homes... they were MY puppies... I helped raise them, nurture them, helped them grow into confident well adjusted puppies...
So no, Addie. I'll be keeping ALL of this bacon for myself
Well aside from some I took my neighbor. But I can keep an eye on it there
Anyway, the biggest reason I do not breed dogs is because I could never stand to get rid of the puppies. Even though my screening and filters would help assure they were all going to good homes... they were MY puppies... I helped raise them, nurture them, helped them grow into confident well adjusted puppies...
So no, Addie. I'll be keeping ALL of this bacon for myself
Well aside from some I took my neighbor. But I can keep an eye on it there
Zagut
Head Chef
You know Pac, you could start your own business right here in DC. Plenty of customers lining up for your product. So get cracking boy. We need bacon!
And you really need to work on the reliability of your shipping.
Whiskadoodle
Executive Chef
Well, I would have a hard time giving up puppies ( or in my case cats too). When Jr was age 10 or so, unbeknown to us parents, he put a free ad in the local town paper. Kittens, $10. His cat had 10 ! babies. Surprisingly they all went in about one day. In the land of the after-school Baby sat, he was allowed a lot of lee-way, playing in and out of our home as well as back yards and with the neighbor kid ( who's mom had an eye out for them.) Obviously, she didn't know what they were up to every minute. It's a head puzzler how he discovered he could place an ad that was acceptable, whatever the rules, 25 words or less, call it in, and they accepted it from some little kid et al. But he already knew he could not have or keep 10 babies. Genius idea I would say today. Jr had no issues giving them up (probably couldn't wait to do it again), I don't recall exactly When Bob Barker started extolling the virtues of Spay and Neuter your pets, but I am pretty sure we did just that.
When my little scamper joined our house, her rescue Mom cried even though she attempted to say she had no emotional attachment with mine and its two brothers. Now, mind you, Jr Did develop attachments for the babies, they all had names and he could tell one from another apart. They slept in his room and got lots of attention and lots of his friends came to visit them from new born size to adoption age.
Jr went missing. After school. 1st grade. Didn't come home. We had the politzia out scouring the bushes, the school principal, the bus driver, his school mates Parents. He finally shows up, about 10 pm. Dead of winter. He got off the bus block(s) early and went over to some Older kid's house to see her new kittens. She made frozen pizza. They watched TV like it was a normal thing to do. Kids. The Mom finally comes home from work and sends Jr packing in the dark. This was long before any form of Quick communications, so after we got the Man-hunt called off, Social Services still shows up that night. Late. Had to make an apppt to go see them. Sheesh. Well, Jr has yet to develop a sense of time, hence he keeps his own work schedule but he did show a decided interest in baby kittens early on even though I am sure he had adult cats of his own waiting to see him at home.
Growing up, we had "barn cats" and only one house cat. Except I used to sneak my own favorite upstairs to my room at night when he would probably have much preferred to be out late visiting the neighbors. We were allowed to have our pet orphan Lamb in the house but not our pet rabbits in the living room. They both left a trail of "raisins" one was acceptable, two were not. We had dogs that were allowed in the house and sometimes a dog that was only allowed as far as the back hallway. No logic as far as a kid could tell.
I realize this is different from what you describe as well as there are overlapping feelings and emotions that may tug closer to our hearts.
Now about Bacon. It gives and gives its own talk-back too. . You know that old see-saw, Always wear an apron if cooking bacon nekkid. Does your bacon produce as much bacon drippings in the pan as commercial bacon? I bought bacon for the first time in months recent. I Think I missed bacon drippings more than the bacon itself ( Neverminde, I am still saving for new teeth, overly crisp is not do-able and equally, too soft is equates to a long work out at the gym. -- only a few more months $$ and we is in like Flint. ) You say it doesn't stretch so much. I bought some of that Candy at a butcher shop once or so. Are you able to slice it as thin as packaged bacon? I have to think you have a meat slicer. Or a sharp eye and equally sharp knife. Can you alternatively wrap 2 - 3 pieces asparagus around one portion bacon and make it work? It won't go all the way up the spindle like I see in some of your dinner pics, but may well still give all the flavor.
What Temp are you smoking the bacon at? and for about how long and what internal Temp do you want to achieve so you know it's done smoking. I would think it's more about Temp than Time, but is it an all nighter or a few hours? Would one just add some Apple wood to the smoker and achieve "apple smoked bacon", like I see on just about every Restaurant's menu these days and never at my grocer's ? Amusingly, I don't order bacon at a resto, So I can't say what it tastes like or if it's different than regular bacon at home. Wait. On a burger or a turkey sandwich, I had and forgot to pay attn. What wood do you like to smoke with. It's 4/20 Month and I just had to clean a package some "organic" Mexican Oregano for just the leaves. Now, Cleaning stems I know about: Patience and Slow maneuvers gets the job done.
When my little scamper joined our house, her rescue Mom cried even though she attempted to say she had no emotional attachment with mine and its two brothers. Now, mind you, Jr Did develop attachments for the babies, they all had names and he could tell one from another apart. They slept in his room and got lots of attention and lots of his friends came to visit them from new born size to adoption age.
Jr went missing. After school. 1st grade. Didn't come home. We had the politzia out scouring the bushes, the school principal, the bus driver, his school mates Parents. He finally shows up, about 10 pm. Dead of winter. He got off the bus block(s) early and went over to some Older kid's house to see her new kittens. She made frozen pizza. They watched TV like it was a normal thing to do. Kids. The Mom finally comes home from work and sends Jr packing in the dark. This was long before any form of Quick communications, so after we got the Man-hunt called off, Social Services still shows up that night. Late. Had to make an apppt to go see them. Sheesh. Well, Jr has yet to develop a sense of time, hence he keeps his own work schedule but he did show a decided interest in baby kittens early on even though I am sure he had adult cats of his own waiting to see him at home.
Growing up, we had "barn cats" and only one house cat. Except I used to sneak my own favorite upstairs to my room at night when he would probably have much preferred to be out late visiting the neighbors. We were allowed to have our pet orphan Lamb in the house but not our pet rabbits in the living room. They both left a trail of "raisins" one was acceptable, two were not. We had dogs that were allowed in the house and sometimes a dog that was only allowed as far as the back hallway. No logic as far as a kid could tell.
I realize this is different from what you describe as well as there are overlapping feelings and emotions that may tug closer to our hearts.
Now about Bacon. It gives and gives its own talk-back too. . You know that old see-saw, Always wear an apron if cooking bacon nekkid. Does your bacon produce as much bacon drippings in the pan as commercial bacon? I bought bacon for the first time in months recent. I Think I missed bacon drippings more than the bacon itself ( Neverminde, I am still saving for new teeth, overly crisp is not do-able and equally, too soft is equates to a long work out at the gym. -- only a few more months $$ and we is in like Flint. ) You say it doesn't stretch so much. I bought some of that Candy at a butcher shop once or so. Are you able to slice it as thin as packaged bacon? I have to think you have a meat slicer. Or a sharp eye and equally sharp knife. Can you alternatively wrap 2 - 3 pieces asparagus around one portion bacon and make it work? It won't go all the way up the spindle like I see in some of your dinner pics, but may well still give all the flavor.
What Temp are you smoking the bacon at? and for about how long and what internal Temp do you want to achieve so you know it's done smoking. I would think it's more about Temp than Time, but is it an all nighter or a few hours? Would one just add some Apple wood to the smoker and achieve "apple smoked bacon", like I see on just about every Restaurant's menu these days and never at my grocer's ? Amusingly, I don't order bacon at a resto, So I can't say what it tastes like or if it's different than regular bacon at home. Wait. On a burger or a turkey sandwich, I had and forgot to pay attn. What wood do you like to smoke with. It's 4/20 Month and I just had to clean a package some "organic" Mexican Oregano for just the leaves. Now, Cleaning stems I know about: Patience and Slow maneuvers gets the job done.
I don't know what happened with that shipping, Zag
Let's just say I'm attached to my bacon, Whiskas
Let's see... going from memory (that was one long post!)...
This latest batch I smoked two bellies at 195-200 and one belly at 330, just as a test to see if the hotter temp would make it shrink. It did not.
The two bellies are good and smokey and the third is simply smokey. The first two took about 4 hours and the third a little over an hour. I smoke to an internal temp of 150.
There isn't as much drippings as storebought/packaged bacon. I've never purchased a store's "homemade", so don't know how it compares there.
I have a slicer. I slice it a hair thinner than typical thick cut bacon, which I have used to wrap things.
I leave the ends of the asparagus exposed on purpose.
Storebought bacon I can cut in half and do one stock, but the last couple times I used the whole piece. Just because.
But my bacon won't stick regardless, even wrapping it upon itself. Like I mentioned, I am wondering if it's because I dry brine/cure. Maybe storebought bacon companies wet brine/cure.
I assume smoking with apple wood gives you apple bacon, but if they use a wet cure maybe the liquid is apple? Beats me.
I like a mixture of apple and hickory. I use a lot, as if I was smoking a corned beef for pastrami. Two good sized foil pouches. It's not as smokey as Sugardale hickory bacon, which I like, but it's pretty smokey.
Still waiting on my buddy's feedback. I know he liked my first batch, which I thought a tad too sweet. I think this batch has just the right amount of salt/sweet.
Let's just say I'm attached to my bacon, Whiskas
Let's see... going from memory (that was one long post!)...
This latest batch I smoked two bellies at 195-200 and one belly at 330, just as a test to see if the hotter temp would make it shrink. It did not.
The two bellies are good and smokey and the third is simply smokey. The first two took about 4 hours and the third a little over an hour. I smoke to an internal temp of 150.
There isn't as much drippings as storebought/packaged bacon. I've never purchased a store's "homemade", so don't know how it compares there.
I have a slicer. I slice it a hair thinner than typical thick cut bacon, which I have used to wrap things.
I leave the ends of the asparagus exposed on purpose.
Storebought bacon I can cut in half and do one stock, but the last couple times I used the whole piece. Just because.
But my bacon won't stick regardless, even wrapping it upon itself. Like I mentioned, I am wondering if it's because I dry brine/cure. Maybe storebought bacon companies wet brine/cure.
I assume smoking with apple wood gives you apple bacon, but if they use a wet cure maybe the liquid is apple? Beats me.
I like a mixture of apple and hickory. I use a lot, as if I was smoking a corned beef for pastrami. Two good sized foil pouches. It's not as smokey as Sugardale hickory bacon, which I like, but it's pretty smokey.
Still waiting on my buddy's feedback. I know he liked my first batch, which I thought a tad too sweet. I think this batch has just the right amount of salt/sweet.
fairygirl69
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
- Messages
- 217
I use the ends and pieces for my bacon cheese bread and baked potato bars when we have company. A friend told me it was the best bacon bits he ever had. ?I get mine in the bacon section of Walmart.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
pac, my usual grocery store had them for $2.99/lb when I looked last week. Hope that makes you feel better.
